


1 September 2009

by sherlockian1895



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, F/M, Family, Family Fluff, First Day of School, Harry's a good godfather, chocolate frogs - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-04-21
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:42:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23762524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sherlockian1895/pseuds/sherlockian1895
Summary: AU - Teddy's off for his first year at Hogwarts, but isn't quite as excited about it as he should be.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Remus Lupin/Nymphadora Tonks
Comments: 10
Kudos: 82





	1 September 2009

_1 September 2009_

From above, King’s Cross Station could almost be mistaken for an ant colony. The thousands of people coming and going from its various entrances and exits were like tiny black dots, all congregating in the station’s central hub. Its traffic varied at different points in the day: mornings and evenings were always a mad rush in and out, while weekends tended to slow down a bit. Today however, was always a busy day.

Those who had spent many years working at the station, whether they were attendants, custodians, or ticket counter workers, all seemed to notice the increase of activity on September 1st every year. They’d come to expect people of all sorts (this was London after all), but there always seemed to be an increase in _oddness_ on this day. One ticket inspector, a Mr. Daniel Jones of Islington, had sworn to the Daily Mail in a headline piece that King’s Cross became infested with owls, cats, and people in funny cloaks the first of September every year, like clockwork. (He also had sworn it happened every June, but the dates were never consistent and as such, was left out of the article.)

Mr. Jones sighed and checked his watch: ten-thirty. This was always when the worst of it started. There would be an absolute mad rush of the strangest things and people he had ever seen and then by eleven o’clock, they were gone, poof, just like that. _This year was no different_ , he thought as a young boy with turquoise hair walked past him, pushing a large, luggage laden trolley with difficulty but determination. That was the other thing; there always seemed to be a large influx of people leaving on very long journeys, as they seemed to have brought all their belongings with them. Mr. Jones wouldn’t have taken notice of the boy with the bright hair if it hadn’t been _today_ , or if a pink haired woman hadn’t run up behind him, dragging a thankfully normal looking man in her wake.

The boy turned to whom Mr. Jones presumed to be his mother, and he didn’t look particularly happy. _Were they sending him off to school perhaps?_ A crowd of people walked by, briefly blocking the family from Mr. Jones’s view. When they reappeared, his jaw dropped. The boy’s hair was now a flaming red and his mother’s matched to boot. _Oh there was definitely something going on here…_

“Excuse me!” A crisp woman’s voice brought his attention back to the counter he was manning. “I need two tickets to Cardiff please.” Mr. Jones rang up the tickets and sent the woman on her way. He looked up, desperately searching the platforms for the strange-haired family, but much to his dismay they were gone, just like magic.

* * *

“Mum, honestly, I don’t understand why we needed to come here. _Or_ why I need to ride the train for that matter.” Teddy Lupin huffed dramatically, slumping over the handle of his luggage trolley.

“It’s your first day of school, you’ve got to take the train. Everyone does.”

“We _live_ in Hogsmeade. We came all the way down to London just so I could hop on a train, that’s going to take _hours_ , all so I could get right back to where I started.”

“Teddy you’ll make friends on the train,” said Remus. He placed a hand on his son’s shoulder. “I met my very best friends on our first train ride to Hogwarts. Even Harry met Ron and Hermione on the train when he went to school.”

“I’m not you _or_ Harry though, Dad.” Teddy looked around, nervously eyeing the other students. “How am I supposed to make friends when they already know who I am, but I don’t know them? How am I supposed to make friends when my _dad_ is their professor?” Remus sighed; he’d been expecting this. Thankfully, as usual, his wife came to his rescue.

“If anyone’s mean to you, you _could_ remind them that your mum’s an Auror and your dad’s the defense professor, so they’ve been sure to already teach you loads of hexes and --” Tonks stopped short at a pointed glare from Remus. _Maybe not quite the rescue he was looking for._

“It’ll be fine Teddy, I promise.”

“I wish Harry were here.” Teddy looked down dejectedly. “He’d know how I felt.” Above his son’s once again turquoise hair, Remus could see Harry and Ginny approaching from down the platform, James in tow on Harry’s shoulders. 

“I think you’re in luck then.” Tonks nudged her son’s shoulder, pointing him in the direction of the approaching Potters. _She knew asking Harry to come had been a good idea._

“Harry, Ginny, you came!” Teddy beamed, excited as ever to see his godparents. “Hi James.” He waved up to the boy.

“Hey Ted, fancy seeing you here, eh?” Harry placed James back firmly on the ground before clasping Remus’s hand and pulling him in for a one-armed hug. “Remus, Tonks, good to see you both.”

“Yeah long time no see, Potter,” said Tonks, rolling her eyes. “Where’s little Al at today?”

“He’s with Mum and Dad,” said Ginny as she snatched her son’s hand, preventing his escape to go look at the train tracks. “James was desperate to see the train though... And to say goodbye to Teddy.” 

“So you all ready for your first year at Hogwarts?” Harry asked. “Excited for the sorting tonight? I’m sure your dad here would be chuffed to have you in Gryffindor, as would I for that matter.” 

“ _I_ think he’s going to be in Hufflepuff, like his mum,” said Tonks. “Though by the way he’s acted since we got here, I reckon he’s not very excited at all…”

“Thought we’d bring in our secret weapon to help cheer him up,” said Remus, inclining his head towards Harry. Harry took the hint and crouched down to Teddy's eye level.

“What’s wrong bud?”

“What was it like? When you went to school? Because everyone knew who you were and probably expected loads from you because you were famous…” Harry considered the question for a moment.

“Well, I’m not going to lie to you and say it was the easiest. But I think everyone realized pretty quickly that I was a kid who’d only learned I was a wizard about a month before school, and I didn’t know any more than they did. I was lucky I had two great friends by my side though. They’re -”

“But what if no one _wants_ to be my friend?” Teddy interjected. “Because my dad’s their professor or because I’m a metamorphmagus?” _That’s_ what Tonks had been waiting for.

“Teddy we’ve talked about this--”

“If you ask me,” Harry interrupted, “I would say that those are both reasons why someone _would_ want to be your friend. Hermione would have killed someone to be friends with a professor's kid.” Remus smirked at the thought; he wouldn’t put it past her.

“You’ll be the coolest supporter at the Quidditch matches too!” said Ginny. “Remember when your mum and dad brought you to my last match for the Harpies? And you turned your hair bright green and gold to match our kits? It was awesome!” The smallest of smiles was starting to creep onto Teddy’s face.

“And,” Harry lowered his voice, looking around dramatically, “if any one has a problem with you, or your dad, or your _hair_ … You can just send them to me. Got it?” Teddy nodded. Having Harry Potter as your godfather did have its perks.

A loud whistle echoed down the platform and everyone’s attention turned to the clocks overhead. It was five minutes to eleven. “Right, Teddy, we’d best get you on the train so you can find a compartment,” said Remus. He started removing his son’s luggage from the trolley. Harry and Ginny both hugged their godson, while James gave a little wave from behind his mother’s leg. “Are you sure you’ve got everything?”

“Everything’s in there, we checked before we left,” Teddy replied. “Besides if I forgot anything at home you can just bring it for me tomorrow, or the next day, since we live _right there_.” His mood seemed to have improved.

“Alright, come here.” Tonks pulled her son in for a hug and kissed his head. “I’ll miss you. And please behave. I know your father, and me, _and_ Harry here didn’t set the best examples for you at school but--”

“Muuuum!” he sighed exasperatedly, pulling away from her. “I won’t do anything that any of you wouldn’t do.” Tonks put a hand to her temple; she was sure it was going to be a long school year.

“And write to us. Often!”

“Yeah sure,” Teddy smirked. “I’ll send you smoke signals out my window since _you can see the castle from our house._ ” Tonks rustled his hair in response, muttering something that sounded like: “Once a week will do.”

“I’ll miss you,” said Remus as he hugged his son.

“Dad, you’ll be back at school before I even get out of London. I’ll see you _every day._ ”

“Doesn’t mean I won’t miss you,” he grinned. “Now get on there, don’t want you to miss the train.”

“Seriously a _bad_ idea, would not recommend it,” Harry chuckled. Teddy gave his parents each one last hug and was off, taking the steps up and into the train, luggage packed away down below. He stopped at a compartment a few cars down where a boy and girl who looked his age were sitting.

“Can I sit here?” he asked, trying to quell the nervousness in his voice. The boy and the girl both looked up from their conversation. 

“Yeah sure, come in!” said the girl. Teddy sat down next to her; she was short, with blond curly hair and freckles across her face. “I love your hair! How’d you do it like that?”

“My mum,” Teddy grinned.

“That’s so cool! _My_ mum won’t let me do anything fun with my hair… I’m Melanie by the way, and this is Mark.” 

“I’m Teddy. Do you guys like Quidditch?” Mark nodded enthusiastically, dark hair flopping to and fro across his forehead.

“Prides all the way,” said Mark. “You?”

“I’m partial to the Harpies. My godmother used to play for them so I’ve been to a few matches.”

“That’s awesome! Chocolate frog?” Teddy nodded and Mark tossed both he and Melanie each a purple container. Melanie opened hers first, sighing in defeat.

“Ugh, this is like, the third Lupin card I’ve got this month. I mean I guess it’s kind of cool because he’s going to be our professor, but I’ve been looking for one with his wife so I can complete the Order of the Phoenix collection.” Teddy did a double take as Mark pulled open the packaging on his own.

“Trade?” he asked. “I’ve already got a Tonks one, you can have her.”

“I am _so_ jealous of her hair.” Melanie sat back against the window. “Did you know she can change it different colors too?”

“Like this?” Teddy asked, quickly flashing his hair to a deep violet, another one of his favorites. Both Melanie and Mark’s eyes grew wide.

“Whoa…” 

“Got it from her,” he grinned. “My mum.”

“Nymphadora Tonks is your _mum_ ?” Melanie gasped. “No way! So that means… Professor Lupin’s your _dad_! You must know, like, all the people on chocolate frog cards nowadays. Open yours!” Teddy pulled open the packaging to reveal another face that had just waved him goodbye. Messy dark hair, green eyes, and a lightning bolt scar smiled up at him from the card.

“Let me guess,” said Mark, lifting both his hands to either side of his face, mock thinking hard. “He’s your… uncle?”

“That’s not how that works!” Melanie chided.

“He’s my godfather,” said Teddy sheepishly, taking a bite of his chocolate. Mark and Melanie both looked at each other and nodded in agreement about something.

“I think we’ve got to keep this guy around,” said Mark.

“Yeah, you better end up in Hufflepuff,” said Melanie. “I just _know_ that’s where I’ll be sorted.” 

“Mum and Dad have me pegged for either Gryffindor or Hufflepuff, but I’d be fine with anything,” said Teddy. Mark shook his head.

“I don’t care where they put me, just as long as I’m not in Slytherin. It’d be cool to be with you guys though.” 

“Yeah, definitely,” the other two agreed, smiling. _Maybe,_ Teddy thought, _just maybe, this train ride wasn’t such a bad idea after all._


End file.
